A Year Later, Killing Of Lake Worth Family Haunts Relatives

LAKE WORTH — Sometimes JosM-i ValentM-mn drives by the little house on H Street and wishes he could tear it down.

Other times he pulls over and blasts reggae or merengue music on his car stereo, wishing his mother would yell at him to turn it down, just like before.

That house is where ValentM-mn lost almost every member of his immediate family -- his mother, two sisters, a brother and the man he loved like a father -- last Sept. 22 in one of the worst crimes in Lake Worth's history.

The man accused of the killings, Michael RomM-an, had been taken in by the family for two years. Now he is scheduled to stand trial in February on five counts of murder.

Ismael GM-smez, 52, was the first to die. Then Carmen ValentM-mn, 42, JosM-i ValentM-mn's mother. Next were his sister Damaris, 19, his brother Juan, 17, and, last, his sister Elizabeth, 22.

RomM-an, the stepson of GM-smez's brother, has said he killed the family because he believed GM-smez and Juan ValentM-mn molested his daughter and his girlfriend's daughter, allegations the families of the victims deny.

A year has not removed the pain for ValentM-mn. His relatives call constantly to check on him.

"It's been hard -- very hard -- because from then until now I'm still traumatized," said GM-smez, of Boynton Beach. "I'm scared at night. I'm shaky."

Tineal GM-smez drives the old van once owned by her father and Carmen ValentM-mn, though she feels nervous driving it at night because Carmen ValentM-mn was shot in it.

She doesn't like going by the house on H Street. It makes her cry. She plans to stop by the empty house on Monday to light some candles in memory of her father and the four others she considered her extended family.

It's painful for Magdalena Ruiz, older sister of Carmen ValentM-mn, to see her younger sister's van on the street, but she goes on with her daily routine, which includes dusting the many framed pictures in her living room.

"When I get to a picture of Carmen, I tell her, `Carmen, I'm cleaning you so you look pretty,'" she said with a bittersweet smile.

Family is foremost on JosM-i ValentM-mn's mind, but it's difficult for him to talk about. He and other members of the family refer to the murders as lo que pasM-s, or "what happened." When ValentM-mn talks about them, it's in a hollow, emotionless tone, and he doesn't make eye contact.

He reveals little until he talks about the man police say killed his family. Then words flow faster, and his face reveals the anger inside.

So many questions linger.

"Why didn't he come to my house if he wanted to kill my whole family?" ValentM-mn asked. "He knew where I lived."

Police reports indicate GM-smez was found dead in a pickup outside the home. RomM-an, 30, told investigators he pretended his car had broken down so GM-smez would come out to give him a ride. He then confronted GM-smez about the alleged abuse and shot him after GM-smez laughed, he told police.

Next, RomM-an lured Carmen ValentM-mn into the van by telling her that GM-smez was in the hospital and he would take her there. RomM-an shot her, he told police, and ValentM-mn jumped out of the moving van. Her body was found on the side of a street seven blocks from her home. Her daughters' bodies were found in one closet, the youngest son in another.

Damaris ValentM-mn, eight months pregnant, was the only victim to be stabbed instead of shot.

After the murders, RomM-an drove to Orlando, where he and his girlfriend, Zigrid Varela, had just moved with their daughters, his then 3, hers then 6. He then told his girlfriend's brother, Victor Vargas, that he had killed five people.

Vargas, a mechanic, called police.

"It was very tough," Vargas said. "It changed our lives. Not only did we trust Mikey, but we didn't expect him to do something like that. I knew I had to call the police because I was afraid for my children and my wife."

RomM-an confessed after being arrested, talking freely to television reporters as well as investigators.

Two days after the deaths, relatives of the victims watched on television as RomM-an methodically described the killings. Incredulous, they heard RomM-an's motive -- that GM-smez and Juan ValentM-mn had molested his daughter and his girlfriend's daughter, and that some family members laughed when confronted about it.

Members of the GM-smez and ValentM-mn families deny the accusations. Tineal GM-smez said she doesn't believe her father was capable of such a thing.